“The Mystery Plays,” an IU independent theatre project, concluded its three shows yesterday. The production ran from Oct. 28 to 30 in the Studio Theatre in the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center.
“The Mystery Plays” is based on the medieval tradition of mystery plays, which were performed by traveling troops throughout the United Kingdom, director and IU graduate student Daniel Sappington said.
In these plays, there would typically be a central character to embody a theme or moral. This production of “the Mystery Plays” is two related one acts that deal with the theme of forgiveness, Sappington said.
The first act is called the “Filmmakers History” and follows Joe, a man who survives a trainwreck, who must decide whether or not to grant forgiveness to the people who died in the trainwreck. “Ghost Children” is the second act and follows Joe’s friend Abby. She is struggling with whether to forgive her brother for killing their abusive parents when they were children.
“I think we're at a crucial moment right now in how we handle forgiveness,” Sappington said. “It asks more importantly, not only how we forgive, but it asks, ‘When do we forgive? Is forgiveness owed or obligated?’”
This production is an independent project. These productions are more student-driven and take place in a smaller black box space called the Studio Theatre, Sappington said. These projects take a focus on the storytelling as opposed to other theatrical elements like scenic lighting or sound.
“I had been waiting for the opportunity to work on this piece,” Sappington said. “Whenever I made the decision to pursue a directed research project, I knew that this was the piece that I wanted to do.”
Tickets were free, and the Studio Theatre held 31 audience members with COVID-19 restrictions.
With a six-member cast, the actors all played multiple roles. IU junior Shanya Unseld played the role of Abby. She said it was helpful to break down each scene and talk about what each character is trying to say.
“As an actor, you're telling a story, in order to help tell the story precisely,” Unseld said. “You have to understand it.”
IU sophomore Alex Coniaris said a large portion of rehearsals was getting everything blocked out and memorized, but at the midway point rehearsals focused on specific actors.
“My overall experience was a lot of laughs in the rehearsal room, a lot of work outside of it,” Coniaris said. “It's just been a phenomenal re-entrance to performing live.”
